Prior to COVID-19, Richmond Community College has always been a point of pride for our county for the variety of academic opportunities and numerous other contributions made to our community. In keeping with their leadership mentality, the institution has made an enormous impact in COVID-19 relief efforts locally and beyond.
RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis said, “Our college’s focus right now is on the health and well-being of our employees, seeing our students across the finish line this spring and summer, and being fully prepared to help folks start new lives and careers this fall.”
COVID-19 relief and response efforts from the institution include the following:
- Donating personal protective equipment from their Health Sciences programs to local hospitals
- Making the Cole Auditorium and Morgan Center parking lots into free Wi-Fi spaces
- Opening a computer lab on Wednesdays for students without personal computers
- Rescheduling graduation and pinning ceremonies to August to ensure students and families will still get to celebrate achievements and successes
- Launching Emergency Medical Science program for the fall 2020 semester to train certified paramedics
- Developing a CNA II program for the fall 2020 semester to assist in healthcare personnel shortages
Regarding their response to this crisis in terms of academics, Associate VP of Marketing and Strategic Planning Sheri Dunn-Ramsay listed the following efforts:
“Our College moved spring break from April 13-17 to the week of March 16 in order to give instructors opportunities to transfer the remaining part of the semester to an online format if possible. Classes or programs which could not be in an online format are on pause until face-to-face opportunities are available again. Some instructors are using new tools to still have synchronous classes or recording lectures for students to watch.
We quickly moved our accessibility and availability to do all student support and resources via online, phone, email or via video chat, including but not limited to counseling, tutoring, financial aid, and veterans services.
Student services is working in cooperation with instructors to reach out to students about the transition to an online environment and providing immediate assistance if needed.
Our Small Business Center quickly adapted by moving current classes online and to assist with free training to support businesses and individuals needing to learn how to interact with customers through new technological means. The Small Business Center also set up free training to assist small business owners in understanding the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan for Small Businesses.
Our Career and Transfer Center is assisting students and community members to update resumes.
We are assisting students with connecting to community resources if they are experiencing needs.
We are holding an online event for prospective or returning students who have questions about all items related to enrollment at RichmondCC. This event will be held Thursday, April 16, 2020 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. We want individuals who are considering returning to College or just starting to have all their questions answered. We will be getting that event on Facebook soon.”
Here is a link to the enrollment: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=55Kxv1s2G024Vo10N4cZ_96GPeptUNRJrRD9VjLOf5VUMlNNVzRLSFFMRzRMM004R0tZOUtIWjlEWi4u
More than ever, we are so proud of and thankful for Richmond Community College that has always been an integral source of not only higher education, but community support in Richmond County. Continuing their essence of innovation and leadership, their impact in supporting our community and country during this pandemic further evidences the college’s insignia: Local College, Big Impact.
(Editor’s Note: See a video the college released this week of faculty and staff pass along inspiring messages to students at the bottom of this post.)
Meghann Lambeth is director of the Richmond County Tourism Development Authority. She is writing a series on how local industries are contributing to the COVID-19 effort, which will also be published at the Richmond Observer. You can read the original post here.
